Jump to content

Recommended Posts

This isn't really technical but I expect many will find it of interest.

A noted Australian Triumph man here in Sydney emailed me last week to see if the TR Register Australia (I'm the current President) would be interested in buying some paperwork for a sidescreen TR that he had been notified about. Included was an original purchase record and TSOA handbook for the car. He attached a few photos but I said yes before I opened the links. He then acquired the documents.

A bit later that night I opened the links and beyond belief, the documents were for my daily driver BRG TR2. What are the odds?

I bought the documents from my mate the Triumph man and picked them up in the car so he could take photos for an article he is writing for his club magazine.

I will now try to trace the original buyer or his family of my TR2 which I've owned for nearly 47 years.

 

IMG_1244.jpg

IMG_1245.jpg

IMG_1246.jpg

IMG_1247.jpg

Edited by John McCormack
Link to post
Share on other sites
11 minutes ago, John Morrison said:

Thats quite a coincidence, must be fate.

John.

Meant to be.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Great record of your car 

win win

did the seller know you had the car ?

Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Hamish said:

Great record of your car 

win win

did the seller know you had the car ?

They were acquired by a TSOA club member who sold them to me. I picked the documents up in the car so he could take photos and is now drafting an article for his club magazine. I've explained it better in my original post.

 

Edited by John McCormack
Link to post
Share on other sites

New rear wheel bearings at only 3,600 miles ?. Must have been put together with no grease.

And a reminder that a de-coke and valve grind was a common occurence at 10,000 miles in the 1950s, unlike today when often cars will do 200,000 without having the head off.

Ralph

Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Ralph Whitaker said:

New rear wheel bearings at only 3,600 miles ?. Must have been put together with no grease.

And a reminder that a de-coke and valve grind was a common occurrence at 10,000 miles in the 1950s, unlike today when often cars will do 200,000 without having the head off.

Ralph

They weren't well made to be honest. The survivors are generally far far better now than when they were built.

The only of the service items still relevant is the overdrive. I have done near 200,000 miles in 46 1/2 years and the overdrive has not been touched, the mods they did seem to have worked. The car still has the overdrive on 3rd although it seems it never got to 2nd.

The head has been changed a few times in my ownership and before and the rear axle was replaced with a Girling one before I bought the car.

I have a couple of leads to chase up next week. I'm hoping there is a family member who recalls their dad, uncle or brother owning a green sportscar. I have found a couple of references to the gentlemen showing he finished high school in 1951.  He would be 88/89 if he is still with us, a possibility. How wonderful if he is.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I see yours was an imported car not a locally built one, so we have to put our hand up for poor parts or workmanship for the wheel bearings.

Ralph

Link to post
Share on other sites

This morning I rang the only person with the surname in the book who lives in the area where the car was sold new. A man answered the phone and I told him that I owned an old British sportscar and before I said anything else he said "a green Triumph TR2 with the hole in the front".
I have found the 1st owner of my TR2. We chatted for a while and I will drive down this week and reunite him with the car he owned from 1955 until the early 60s when he traded it on a Peugeot 403. He didn't race it on the track but used it in hill climbs, rallies and gymkhanas.
Pretty chuffed at how this has gone.

Yes Ralph, the TRs were fully imported here except for 100 or so TR3s that were assembled in Melbourne from CKD kits.

However, the original owner said the car was very well made and when he sold it it was still in excellent condition with original interior etc. By the time I got it in 1976 the red leather interior and fawn weather equipment had been replaced with black vinyl and it had been resprayed the original BRG. I believe it was raced in the 60s.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice overseas story for TRAction after you have made the reunion trip John. 
well done, it’s a  lovely chapter in the story of the car.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

A TR2 owning mate and I drove down to Goulburn yesterday (very chilly drive down in the morning) and met with John Sendall to reunite him with the TR2 he owned from 1955 until 1962.

The TR is running beautifully, and I had given it a wipe over and washed the wheels properly.

John was absolutely delighted, thrilled at being with the car he had cherished as a young bloke. We had morning tea with he and his family, took photos of the car, talked cars and John and I took the TR for a very spirited drive on country roads near his place. He just loved it.

John has been a car nut since he owned the TR2. He was Clerk of the Course for historic racing at Wakefield Park circuit for many years, marshalled at many courses. He currently has a 3.4Mk2 Jag (bought new by his dad, never left the family, never restored, beautifully maintained), a Alfa 159 and Peugeot 504.

A thoroughly enjoyable day.

The TR2 did the trip including some hard driving at 32.84mpg.IMG_1260.thumb.jpg.742e2275012c671419a09c9671345223.jpg

IMG_1263.jpg

IMG_1270.jpg

IMG_1259.JPG

IMG_1266.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Please familiarise yourself with our Terms and Conditions. By using this site, you agree to the following: Terms of Use.